MacBook Pro Slow Responses on all operations.

Question

Level 1

4 points

MacBook Pro Slow Responses on all operations.

Hello. I’m after some advice.

Recently I have started having problems with my 2013 MacBook Pro.

It is running Big Sur and I believe my model is now end of life or fast approaching end of life, so I’m not expecting miracles from it, however, I have just moved from the UK to Costa Rica, and since getting here it’s started having major problems.

Starting with a Sleep error, that isn’t resolved but has been better since I ran a recovery. But still, my MacBook Pro will no longer go into sleep mode. It literally just shuts down when I try to put it into sleep mode or just close the lid. When turning it back on the laptop presents an error saying that it unexpectedly had to shut down.

As I mentioned I ran a CMD-R and reinstalled Big Sur. I also did a SMC and PRAM reset. This slightly improved the situation for a short time but I still can’t put my laptop into sleep without it shutting down.

Additionally, and more annoyingly; my MBP is all of a sudden extremely slow and slugish on all operations.

Clicking to open any apps, typing any thing or clicking on the mouse for any thing there are massive delays, windows opening and scrolling has become very clunky.

If I just want to do something as simple as watch a movie on Netflix, it can take upto 20 mins to set the film up ready to watch. Let alone do any work on on the laptop.

I’ve now got to the point where I have wiped the sdd clean and I’m reinstalling Big Sur onto a completely blank drive.

However, I’m not convinced this is a software issue, which leaves me wondering what it could be, and if others have experienced similar issues??

this has led me here to ask for help of suggestions.

One thing I was wondering is if the change in voltage could be a cause or catalyst?

In the UK we run on 240v for household appliances, but here in Costa Rica it is 110v.

could someone confirm if this is or is not the problem or help me with what the problem could be and next steps after a fresh OS has been installed.

kind regards

ben

MacBook Pro 15″

Posted on Feb 1, 2024 11:45 AM

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Answer 1

Allan Jones

Level 9

68,456 points

Feb 3, 2024 9:03 AM in response to BenEdge82

That helps but not enough to made "Ben-specific" recommendations. We need to see the entire report. Things that stand out for those of us who have evaluated thousands of such report may not be obvious to a new user. Examples:

SSD issues have actuals measures speeds and timing tests in the report
Suspects in Heavy RAM and CPU usage are quite well documented in the report

Those are clues we need to help you quickly without our playing a protracted game of "20 Questions" that could go on for days.

How to include long text reports like Etrecheck's in these forums is the subject of this very good user-submitted tip:

How to use the Add Text Feature When Post… - Apple Community

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Answer 2

Feb 1, 2024 4:35 PM in response to BenEdge82

I don't believe the change of voltage is the root cause, as Macs are designed to run on either 240 or 110.

Since you've reinstalled MacOS to a nearly-new out of box state, odds are it's not software-related.

You might try running diagnostics on it: Use Apple Diagnostics to test your Mac - Apple Support

If there's an Apple Store in your area, I'd suggest taking it in for evaluation, as the diagnostics they can run are more comprehensive than those in the link I provided.

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Answer 3

HWTech

Level 9

55,132 points

Feb 2, 2024 10:20 PM in response to BenEdge82

Run the third party app EtreCheck and post the report here so we can examine it for clues. It sounds like the system may be having Kernel Panics which can be caused by either hardware or software.

Have you ever tried to boot the laptop into Safe Mode to see how hit works? If it works better in Safe Mode, then most likely you have an issue with some third party software. Usual culprits are anti-virus apps, cleaning/optimizer apps, and third party security software.....none of which are needed on a Mac. If you have any of these types of apps installed, then uninstall them by following the developer's instructions. These types of apps usually cause more problems than they solve, plus they can severely impact system performance because they interfere with the normal operation of macOS.

FYI, Reinstalling macOS over top of itself these days usually won't do anything because the macOS system volume is now on a read-only APFS volume. Only a clean install of macOS which involves first erasing the drive followed by reinstalling macOS is effective for troubleshooting. However, if you restore from a backup, then most likely you will be bringing back the problem unless you just restore your macOS user folder(s).....even that could sometimes still bring the problem back.

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Answer 4

BenEdge82 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 3, 2024 7:36 AM in response to HWTech

Thank you for the responses

I have installed and run ETreCheck as advised. I will post the report below

As I suspected the report found my model is now obsolete.

However it also give the following minor issues:

SSD too slowSSD is showing poor performance. - This I could believe as it is the original SSD that came with the laptop from Apple

Heavy RAM usageApps are using a large amount of RAM. - This I am unsure about as I have wiped my laptop clean and reinstalled Big Sur from Scratch. As it Stands I am running Big Sur as it has installed with nothing else on the laptop.

Limited permissions - More information may be available with Full Disk Access.Review

Major Issues:

Heavy CPU usageSome processes are using an unusually high amount of CPU. - The laptop has nothing but Big Sur Installed, and I'm am currently only using it to access the internet.

Obsolete hardwareThis computer may be considered obsolete.

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Answer 5

BenEdge82 Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 3, 2024 1:14 PM in response to BenEdge82

Thanks for the help. Here is the report as per the the instructional link you provided.

My ETreCheck Report

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